*********Don't be hoodwinked: Mark Penn is NOT leaving********

[rhombus]

He's still on the Clinton campaign payroll. He's still going to be doing polling and 'advising' Hillary. This is just a smokescreen to divert attention from Penn's free trade shenanigans.:think: :eyes:

[flor de jasmim]

1. He's doing a HECKUVA job!

[easy_b94]

3. you again!!!!!!!!!

[ProSense]

2. Call it what it is: a smoke screen. More:

Penn sidelined

The knives have been out in Hillarlyland for Mark Penn for years, but today they finally cut through. In a statement, campaigner Maggie Williams linked the departure to Mark Penn's meeting last week with the government of Colombia, a private client, but that was just the latest in a long series of distractions triggered by his private work, and his departure also reflects Clinton's obvious dissatisfaction with elements of her strategy.

Says Williams:

After the events of the last few days, Mark Penn has asked to give up his role as Chief Strategist of the Clinton Campaign; Mark, and Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates, Inc. will continue to provide polling and advice to the campaign.

Geoff Garin and Howard Wolfson will coordinate the campaign's strategic message team going forward.

[MindMatter]

17. They have this story completely ass-backwards

It makes no difference what Penn's role is with the Clinton campaign. That is all over but the shouting. This is not a coup by Clinton staffers that wanted to dump Penn. This is Penn diving off that ship to try to save his lobbying contracts with Columbia and others.

Of course, people like Penn are in the business of selling influence. He probably got into trouble with Columbia, not because of some potential conflict of interest, but because Columbia sees what most of us see -- that Clinton is going down. Penn's value as a lobbyist drops like a rock if Clinton is not the next President.

Whores, all of them. The best interests of America and Americans be damned.

[tekisui]

19. BWAAAA!!! Wolfson is promoted!!!! Oh, god, I love it!

What a fucking gem he is!

[FrenchieCat]

4. I'm writing to CNN and other news firms about this........

they ain't gonna let themselves be hoodwinked on purpose....after I'm done.

Also writing to the unions.

[Yael]

10. Make sure to catch the SEIU

They were the ones calling for her to drop him this week.

[DJ13]

5. Shhhh.....

Making a major change in her campaign this late in the primaries does her more harm than any good she might get by disassociating herself with him.

The PR will be of a sinking ship.

Let her claim he's no longer in charge, that will be a worse hit to her than just changing his title.

[FrenchieCat]

6. Had to turn off CNN.......cause I thought they were going to report on this....

but instead, I found them pastorbating, AGAIN! :(

[4themind]

7. Do they have anything actually NEW on this front??

[FrenchieCat]

8. May 18th, a day that Churches will begin the conversation on race.....

But the CNN slant is that "this is still dogging Obama on the trail"....although I haven't seen any evidence of that, considering that he is drawing giant crowds full of White people everywhere he goes.

But you know, CNN....they've contributed to Hillary, and now, they've got to make it happen for her.

[rhombus]

11. CNN raises my blood pressure. I don't watch CNN

Crappy News Network.

They want to make Obama the 'Black' candidate and the lengths to which they are doing this is amazing. It's non stop pastorbating. I refuse to watch CNN.

[BumRushDaShow]

21. I did the same - turned it on when I saw the breaking on CNN.com

and blew a gasket. As much as I have read posts here talking about CNN's continual pastorbating, I FINALLY saw it for myself. What a f*cking disgrace... Especially with a big news story like this happening and their insistence on CONTINUING to inject race into the campaign - to the point where their story is asking why race continues to be injected into the campaign and while they are showing the requisite Wright clips in the background, the voiceover asks why the media continues to play the clips??!!! :crazy:

Um hello? Are you news outlets that daft???? :banghead:

[Yael]

9. She only cares about the SEIU

Smoke screen indeed.

[rocktivity]

12. "Geoff Garin and Howard Wolfson will coordinate the campaign's strategic message..."

with Penn pulling their strings from behind the scenes.

:boring:
rocknation

[MannyGoldstein]

13. Thank Goodness!

Next to The Clintons themselves, Penn is Obama's greatest asset.

[Raine]

14. Yup

TOTALLY agree! :thumbsup:

[blm]

15. Penn is 'leaving' like Rove 'left' in 2007 and like Morris 'left' in 1996.

They 'don't' leave.

Penn IS the Clintons and the Clintons ARE Penn. Anyone who thinks otherwise is pretty damn gullible.

[Raine]

16. Stay or go

the really important thing about his being asked to "leave" is the message it sends to the SDs...that Hillary's campaign is in disarray, a real mess.

[Garbo 2004]

18. "Penn Sorta Not Really Resigns from Clinton Campaign" from TPM:

Penn Sorta Not Really Resigns from Clinton Campaign

Fall-out from his work on behalf of the Colombia trade deal Sen. Clinton opposes, Mark Penn is 'stepping down' from his role as "chief strategist" but will remain as chief pollster.

Note to self: Write separate post on the craziness of having Mark Penn both run message and polling when his polling is so legendary for cherry picking data to confirm his preferred political strategies and messages.

Note to self, two: Make effort to work in fact that Penn earlier tried to argue that he was never part of the Clinton campaign in the first place.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/187589.php

[anonymous171]

20. WHY!? If this is how Hillary would run the country, then no way.

[FightingIrish]

22. She can't even fire someone honestly

[C_U_L8R]

23. Does anyone really want 8 years of THIS ??? !!!

this is just a taste of what a Hillary presidency will be like.
It seems so familiar... the parsings, the triangulations, the half-truths.
This is what some DUers are voting for (and some against).

[rocktivity]

24. I forgot that I posted this

YESTERDAY:
Like Rove and Rumsfeld, (Penn) will leave (Hillary's campaign) in name only.

P.S. Penn's departure "reflects Clinton's obvious dissatisfaction with elements of her strategy"? What she SHOULD be dissatisfied with is how HIRING PENN IN THE FIRST PLACE reflects her abysmal judgment! Didn't it occur to her that someone might notice that Penn is making money off promoting NAFTA and mercenaries?

:headbang:
rocknation